Trails at Moose Hill

Explore 20 miles of trails at Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary. Enjoy breathtaking views along the Bluff Trail, especially when the fall foliage is at its peak. The hiking trails take you through forests, fields, and wetlands ideal for birdwatching and spotting wildlife.

Trail Map

Trail Descriptions

Billings Loop

This loop takes you through mixed forest, past old farm fields, and through a red maple swamp. You will pass a barn and the sugar shack along the loop. In spring and summer, look for Eastern bluebirds and Tree Swallows around the nest boxes. Autumn turns the swamp a vivid red and in the late winter, you will see sap buckets hanging from sugar maple trees.

Bluff Overlook 

This popular walk extends from the fields of Billings Loop to the Bluff Trail and back. Stonewalls crisscross the dense forest. As you walk up the gradual incline, look for the large cistern halfway to this scenic overlook. It is one of the last signs of a former orchard. Plan for a 90-minute hike.

Vernal Pool Trail

Depending on the season, you may see full pools with masses of jelly-like eggs clinging to branches or dwindling pools with frog and salamander tadpoles racing to metamorphose before food and water are gone. The gentle, rolling inclines are the stone-packed remains of rivers that once ran under, in, and over glaciers.

Kettle/Pine/Ovenbird Trails

Connect these three trails for a challenging loop walk along hilly terrain. On this oldest part of the sanctuary, you may find signs of a dam and seasonal stream, an old rhododendron garden, and a kettle hole left behind by part of a melting glacier.

Summit Trail

This short but strenuous walk takes you to the highest point on the sanctuary (534 feet). Shaped by glaciers thousands of years ago, you can still see faint striations in the bedrock that were made by glacier-dragged rocks. At the top of the hill, you will see the Fire Tower, which is owned by the State of Massachusetts and usually locked. Dense forest growth now obscures the view.